Latches for releaseably holding a magazine floor plate in a rifle have included push button arrangements (U.S. Pat. No. 2,745,203) and latches mounted in the trigger guard (U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,641).
Trigger guard mounted floor plate latch mechanisms have had the disadvantage that during operation of the firearm the trigger finger located in the trigger guard could cause the floor plate to open inadvertently. This can also happen when the firearm recoils rearward at the moment of firing, if the latch is located where it is subject to accidental release, or if it operates in a direction so that recoil tends to unlatch the magazine floor plate. Latches mounted outside the trigger guard have heretofore been subject to inducement activation by external objects such as twigs, branches, etc.